June 14, 2014

Tender Mercies

" The temperature is 107 degrees, where you are."

Gleefully, that's what several acquaintances from the Northeast Corridor have been emailing me about my two-month-old life here in Arizona.

"And in New Canaan, Connecticut, gasoline has been ranging between $4.05 and $4.15 a gallon. In Tucson, the range is $3.22 to $3.32. My car insurance is a 100 bucks less and bundled in is road service."

That's what I think. But there's no need for me to say anything. Cheaper whatevers are the new kinds of tender mercies. For the first time since I grew up on the mean streets of Jersey City, New Jersey I feel a buffer between me and a hostile world.